Reading is fundamental to education. Being competent in reading, writing and spoken language is vital for pupils future success. Becoming a fluent, skilled and attentive reader starts very early on even before a child can read a book by themself. It starts with everyday interactions, talking to a child, listening to rhymes, stories, and poems; all of which expands their vocabulary, often called the pre-phonics stage.

When adults engage with their children with books, this prepares them to be enthusiastic readers by sharing the enjoyment of stories; learning how stories start and finish, how to turn the pages, left to right directionality and that print has meaning. They learn how a plot unravels and is resolved and the power of a story to experience other worlds.

Talking about books and hearing stories introduces children to language that they might not hear in ordinary conversation and prepares them to develop their own imagination to build ideas to create their own stories. Being able to read is essential to access all the curriculum in later years.

At Uxendon Manor, we want all children to have a love of reading, immerse themselves in reading well known books and develop the skills to become a competent and fluent reader. We read stories, poems and sing rhymes and songs daily to help children build their vocabulary and language skills.

Early reading builds the foundation for a child to develop these skills. Reading and writing skills are taught daily using a systematic, synthetic phonics programme. At Uxendon Manor, we use Bug Phonics in Early Years and KS1 and Rapid phonics in Key stage 2. Children are taught the sounds the letters make and how to sound out letters to make words to make words (blending) and stretch sounds out (segmenting) to spell. All children have access to phonics decodeable books online and physical,  to practice reading daily both at home and at school.

The aim is to teach children the skills of reading so that they can practice these skills when reading books and read with fluency and pace. Children in Early Years are given multiple opportunities to practise their reading and writing with adults and independently in continuous provision.

The emphasis in Early reading is on learning skills in Reception and Year 1. By year 2 a child should be reading with increasing accuracy and fluency and emphasis is more focused on understanding the text.